The effort to revive the heart of Springfield

When Jasper Madonia started working in downtown Springfield in 1939, the downtown was a different place from today. He describes a bustling place so busy that he had to push his way through the crowds...

A while back, in “Teaching idiots,” I ventured the view that it has never been easier than it is today to give oneself an education. I did not however settle the question of whether is might be wise to do so. The self-taught tend to have patchy educations. This can be bad, it can be good. You know less than people schooled to a formal curriculum, but you often end up knowing what you do ...